Terror In Turkey: What Lies Behind It? – 2 April 2015

Dr. Can Erimtan is an independent scholar residing in İstanbul, with a wide interest in the politics, history and culture of the Balkans and the Greater Middle East. He tweets at @theerimtanangle

The spectacular terrorist attack on the Caglayan Justice Palace and its bloody resolution, culminating in the deaths of the hostage-takers and their hapless hostage, are events that occupy public opinion in Turkey.

But this gruesome episode all but underlines what appears to be at stake in Turkey’s upcoming general elections.

Last Tuesday, Turkey was struck by a power blackout of truly gigantic proportions. The Turkish press announced that “electricity was reportedly cut in 79 of Turkey’s 81 provinces,” including the country’s metropolitan population centers such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. The outage started at 10:36 a.m. and persisted till about 9 p.m. The Turkish daily Hurriyet quoted electricity officials as saying that this was Turkey’s biggest blackout in 15 years. In fact, Turkey’s PM Ahmed Davutoglu declared that “every angle, including terrorism, is being investigated” in connection with this nationwide event crippling the nation’s infrastructure and hampering people’s lives.